DATE: JULY 13th, 2019 (13/7/19)
Okay, I realy need to apologise right now. I had most of this chapter (8000 words, mind you) written out two days after the last chapter was published, but other things came up for a couple days before I basically trickled bit by bit with the flashback, causing it to be a week delayed, so I am incredibly sorry for that.
Other than that, I was thinking of cutting it off halfway at a certain point and publishing the rest another time, but I didn't want to cockblock everyone reading this with another delay of sorts. As such, this chapter is stupidly long. And sorry if some bits don't make sense.
Anyways, I'm just going to keep going with this for a bit before eating lunch and going over to my Nan and Pop's because they want everyone to meet up. Damn, it's been a while since I've seen them. Good people.
Robin slowly opened her eyes, though everything was blurry. And cold. Wow, it was cold. Not even any ice from Kuzan around her, just plain old cold. Her eyes started to clear up a bit, the boat surrounding her just as it had before she fell asleep.
No, wait. She fell asleep on a pink bed in a ship. She met some teenager named Franky wearing swimming trunks, as well as a fat thing (maybe a fish with legs?) and a skeleton. Maybe she did have a fever dream last night. Her life did get destroyed in one fell swoop, after all.
The least she could have done was grab one of the fruits on the table. Odds are they were still there. Bah, who was she kidding, she wasn't going back.
And what did she mean to 'trust them'? An exhibitionist, a 'Fish-Man', and a perverted skeleton? Was this some kind of sick joke?! They could have killed her! Although, on the contrary, since the government wanted her head on a pike and her knowledge thrown off a cliff Sparta style, odds are that'd be a common worry anyway.
But back to her, what was that woman smoking?! How could she know how she felt?! How could she know the pain and suffering of having your whole island destroyed before your eyes and have to be on the run for the rest of your life?!
...oh yeah. There was that.
Besides, when her descriptions of the ship and its passengers were on the dot, she got so terrified she backed as far away as possible. How could she know?! Pardon her language, but how in the ever loving fuck can somebody just casually know that like it's two dashes of sugar in a regular morning coffee?! It made no sense!
So she punched the one that came closer and ran. She felt bad, especially when he yelled at her in confusion, but she didn't care. This was too much for her little, yet massive brain to take in all at once. Legitimate knowledge? Sure. Factual research? Bring it. Experiments of the unknown? She could do it all day. But this?! Oh hell no, this is something out of a science fiction novel. Then came the embarrassment of hiding in what was literally their main sleeping quarters. And she denies them having a girl's one because they certainly looked like men to her. But LORD AND BEHOLD THERE'S A WOMEN'S QUARTERS RIGHT THERE IN HER FACE. She didn't believe them when it should clearly be an obvious tiger trap, and yet there's one there with the most comfortable bed she'd ever seen, a beauty station which she thought was merely something the rich used to 'flex on the poor', even a coffee table and chairs for her to sit down and think about this whole thing for hours on end.
And it was real. ALL OF IT was real. And yet, it happened in her dreams. When she was sleeping. Yet she could've sworn she was there the whole time. And the whole thing was driving her damn insane.
Now wasn't the time for that, though. She was still stuck in the middle of the ocean. If she remembered what Kuzan said about giving her a chance, Luopio Island shouldn't be far from where Ohara once was. A few days off, actually. She still had a couple more days to reset her life and hope to god the government didn't find her. Just avoid all contact, focus on rowing to the island with the few supplies she was lucky Kuzan had given her, and get that dream out of her head. Now was the time for reality and getting her new life together!
She really missed the bed, though.
"Dereshishishishishi…" she tried laughing to herself. Seeing as it didn't work, she may have taken Saul's words too literally. Maybe just laugh in general, not his signature Dereshi. Huh. Maybe she does overthink things.
When she woke up that night, she'd expected to have been found by some marines that act like they're trying to help her, only to kill her right then and there, or maybe even find she'd just hit land. More than anything, she expected it to be rather chilly.
So when she woke up warm as hell, she was confused.
When she looked at herself, she was tucked into the pink bed she remembered from the other night- oh wait, this WAS the room from last night. The only difference was that the fruits seemed to be taken back from the table. She looked and saw that she was under a blanket and doona, neatly done. Oh god, it felt warm. Much better than sleeping under the sky in the middle of the ocean. This was heaven, and she would believe so until proven otherwise. No really, at this point she was either insane or dead. No middle ground.
Robin almost moaned in joy when she sunk into the blankets. "So warm…" she hummed to herself.
"Yohohohoho. We're glad you like it, miss Robin."
Robin instantly squealed and hid under the blankets at the voice. "W-Who's there?!" She cried, head popping out of the foot of the bead. She squealed yet again after finding a skeleton in a fancy purple tuxedo with green highlights standing at the arch of the door.
"I am." The skeleton replied. "It's truly a pleasure to meet you properly, miss Robin. If memory serves correct, you're the First Lady to board the Sunny. Quite the milestone, I say!" He laughed to himself. "Oh, before I forget, manners," He then took a bow. "My name is Brook. The pleasure is mine."
Robin was intrigued about the skeleton, but ever since he bright it up, she'd been afraid of something. "H-How do you know my name?" She asked cautiously.
Brook rose his hat with a bony hand. "Franky told us from when you two met," He answered. "Anywho, I just came to inform you that you can either spend the first few days here just relaxing, as you seem to be in quite a lot of pain, or you can come up sooner and we can tell you what this place is. Whichever you prefer."
Robin remained unmoved. She seemed to be contemplating the information, but seemed to have no answer.
"So from what I heard when I entered, you seem to enjoy the bed, yes?"
At Brook's words, Robin nodded, smiling a little bit. "Yes," she replied. "I…have never had a bed before. It feels nice...warm…" She then dropped her guard instantly, seeping further into the mattress.
Brook looked shocked. "You...have never had a bed before?" He then proceeded to lower his top hat, presumably in respect. "My deepest condolences, miss Robin. I didn't know you've had such an unfortunate upbringing."
'You don't know the half of it.' Robin thought to herself. Her uncle was kind, nothing really bad happened with her cousin when they did speak in private a couple times, but her aunt-in-law sucked. She was a bitch, not all too hard to spot.
Robin then realised just how loose she was being right now, shooting up in shock. "W-Wait," She suddenly cried. "Why am I still here?!"
Brook had a surprised expression. "Ah, right. I completely forgot that's why I came here." He spoke before clearing his throat. Wait. He was a skeleton. How did he clear his...wait, what throat? "You see, this place is special. Odd, but special. It's a place within one's dreams."
Robin looked sceptical, still keeping her guard up. "'In one's dreams'?" She asked, sarcasm obvious.
Brook nodded. "Oh yes, miss Robin. I've been here since the age of nine! That was 59 years ago, mind you."
Robin looked shocked herself. If what this skeleton was saying was true, "fifty nine years?!" She cried, hands reaching forward on the bed.
Brook nodded again. "Indeed. For 29 years, I was here all alone, relaxing, training, studying, anything else that I could do with my time." He then paused for a bit. "And then I died." He casually concluded placing his hat back on his giant afro.
"HUH?!" Robin was beyond confused. "But didn't you say that this place is for dreams?!" She accused. "If you died, how are you here?!"
"The Revive-Revive Fruit." Brook replied, laughing a bit.
"..." Robin said nothing. Until she did. "Revi-huh?" She didn't get it. What kind of fruit was that?
Brook noticed her visible confusion "It's something called a Devil Fruit," He proceeded. "It gives you strange powers depending on the fruit."
Robin looked life she wanted to say something, but she didn't, instead opting to pull back into the bed. So warm…
"Hm?" Brook seemed concerned. "Is something wrong, miss Robin?"
Robin quickly shook her head from under the doona. "No no, everything's alright." She replied, although there was a bit of haste.
Brook seemed to notice it by his slight pause, but said nothing about it. "Very well then." You get some rest now. When you're ready, we'll talk more, okay?"
"Alright."
And with that, Brook seemed to have left from the sound of a closing door. Robin peered her head up and saw that the room was in fact empty sans herself.
She laid back into the pink bed, the comfiest she had felt in her whole life, thinking to herself: "'Devil Fruit'? Strange powers?" She then made a few extra hands on her elbow, like a pinwheel. She flexed her hands in an out. "Just like me…"
For the past five hours, Robin had been sleeping for an hour and spending the rest reading the eight or so books in the bookshelf beside the bead she used. One was a cookbook (what was that doing in the Women's Quarters she would never know), one on appeal and appearance (she really didn't care for that stuff in her current state), and, luckily for her, five of the others were on history. A couple from the West Blue, a couple on the East Blue, and one on the Grand Line, specifically the first half which the book called 'Paradise'. Seeing as it was known as the Pirate's Graveyard, why it was called Paradise she wouldn't get.
The last book was a small novel, the first volume of a story called 'The Rainbow Mist'. She really seemed to enjoy it, especially from how as we speak, she was more than halfway through with a smile on her dial.
Then the door creaked open.
"Hello?" A gruff voice spoke.
Robin squealed and hid under the covers, pretending to be asleep. From the footsteps she could hear, the person walked in anyway.
When the footsteps stopped, she felt a shadow over her.
"Where'd you get the book?"
Fuck. They knew she was awake.
Fuck. She forgot to hide The Rainbow Mist.
Fuck. Now she had to explain everything.
She pulled her head out of the covers, expecting to see an old man like Brook was, but instead found the giant blue thing from earlier. She gasped and froze in shock and a bit of fear.
"Hm?" The creature raised its really curly eyebrow. "You never seen a Fish-Man before, kid?"
Robin indeed hadn't, but had read about them in one of the history books from earlier. It said how they were monsters that craved human flesh and all the like, but considering it was government-published, as well as what they did a few days ago, she passed it off as the fattest of lies.
"N-No, that's not it." She spoke quietly. "You just...you look like an oni."
The creature just stood there, expression unmoving. "Oni, huh?" Then it...chuckled? "First time I've heard that one." Still smiling it sat on the floor. For god sake, sitting down, it matched her height! "Robin, right?" The Fish-Man asked, pointing a finger at her from a webbed hand.
Robin quickly nodded. "Mhm."
The Fish-Man also nodded. "Great, we got that out of the way. My name is Jinbe." They said. Probably a guy, provided Fish-Men had genders. "Now then, from yesterday, you didn't eat, and just slept on the bed all night. We had to tuck you into the bed so that you didn't get sick; you were freezing when we checked on you."
Robin froze. She was asleep all of last night she was here. And they grabbed her. "W-What did you do?" She asked, a bit shaken.
Jinbe raised an eyebrow. Again. He then put a webbed hand to his almost nonexistent chin. "That's a good point. What did we do?" Did...did he seriously forget? "I dunno, I think I just picked you up and put you in the bed. Fairly certain Brook just tidied the bed before and after, said it'd be bad if you got sick."
Robin was…slightly in awe. Not that she'd admit it to this lot. She'd been so worried about things happening to her, and yet they helped her that night? Or did they? Were they just lying to her?
"Anyway, back to my point, where'd you get the book?" He asked, picking up The Rainbow Mist.
Robin shook her head, clearing her thoughts for the time being. "Oh," She pointed to the bookshelf beside her. "I grabbed it from there with the other books." It was obvious, wasn't it? Wasn't that what bookshelves did? Be a shelf for books?
Jinbe appeared slightly conflicted, a hand on his chin yet again. "I could've sworn that bookshelf was empty last we checked."
Robin's eyebrows raised. "It was?"
"Yeah. We do a maintenance check of the ship every month or two...or six. I don't remember. But the last one was a week ago, and I got put here, the Men's Quarters, and the kitchen." He pointed to the shelf. "So either you're lying and snuck into the Library and grabbed some random books, or that shelf is magic and gets new books whenever." Jinbe failed to remember that's exactly what happens in the Library too, as Brook had explained.
Robin's interest quickly peaked. "You have a Library here?!" She asked with a smile.
Jinbe nodded. "Yeah, not that big, though." He confirmed. "Anyway, why I came here," He pulled a wooden bowl from behind him. "We're trying the fruit again." He set the bowl onto the end of Robin's bed. "You didn't eat anything yesterday. As such, everyone became concerned. As such, you will eat something tonight." He stood up, turning around to walk out. "If you don't like anything in the bowl, call out and Franky'll replace it with something else." He then walked out of the room, not even waiting for the "Thank you" He was fairly certain he wasn't getting.
When he left, Robin looked sadly at the door, sad she couldn't give a 'thank you' in gratitude. looked at the fruit bowl with curiosity. The order seemed different, and the bananas were split from one another. She presumed these were different from the fruit yesterday.
With that, she went to reach for one of the apples. It was a light green colour with a small stem, decently sized fitting her whole hand.
She took a small bite. It was slightly sour, but really delicious! She'd have to ask where they got these; deer didn't seem to be a greenhouse nor garden of sorts here. Upon the second bite, she had the back-of-the-head thought of whether or not it was poisoned and if it may kill her. By the third bite, her mindset was "to hell with it, everyone wants me dead anyway".
Everything until the core, she enjoyed with a smile. Never had anything tasted so good. Ever. When she finished, she found a small rubbish bin near the door at the entrance, walked over to it and placed the core into it.
She was thinking about eating a banana, also, so she grabbed that to eat it, as well as wrap herself into the blanket for warmth. However, before she could eat the banana, a sudden wave of tiredness washed over her.
"...sleepy…" She mumbled, falling asleep with the banana in her grasp.
When she woke up next, she was on her little boat. Suddenly, it wasn't so cold, presumably from the sun being directly above her head. Had she really slept in that badly?
When she noticed a seagull on the end of the boat, tilting its head to the side, she smiled a bit. "Sorry, I haven't got anything…" She told the water bird. She'd eaten the last of the food yesterday. Even in small morsels, the tiny supply barely lasted.
When the bird just kept staring at her, she got slightly mad. "Listen, I just said I don't have any food, so please go away."
When the bird just screeched at her, as if rejecting her claim, she got pissed off really quickly. "Go away! Shoo!" She waved her enclosed right hand at the bird, finally managing to successfully wade it off. However, she realised she was holding something when she squeezed her hand. She looked down to look.
A banana.
She dropped it into the boat in shock, slowly backing away from it. She didn't have a banana in the emergency supply, last she checked. But if not there, then how the hell-?!
The dream.
She was holding a banana before she fell asleep, wrapped tightly and, frankly, untidily in a really warm blanket. Hell, the banana looked exactly like the one she pulled from the bowl: slightly crooked stem from being pulled from a bunch, a black speck at the bottom, two at the top...it was one and the same as the one she fell asleep with.
She pulled her left hand up to her head, trying to cure the slight headache she had now. "How did-" Only to feel some material as she pulled her hand up, causing her to reel back further in greater shock, almost falling off the small boat.
It was a blanket. It was a red, cotton blanket. The same one from when she slept.
Now she was terrified. Was someone following her? Was someone causing her to have these weird dreams and place items around her to make her go insane? Was the government trying to further torture her?! Because if the latter was the case, this was the silliest way she could imagine. But hey, it was working.
Now that she wasn't wrapped in the blanket, it was actually a bit colder than it left off; a steady sea breeze blowing was sure to chill somebody. Besides, wasn't it early Spring?
So either someone is messing with her in the post ridiculous way possible, or it turns out that the dream she has is real, and she can bring objects from there to here. Damn, that sounds amazing. Now the question was could she follow up vice versa?
It'd been almost three days. Shouldn't she be at Luopio by now?
After that day, where she kept rowing to speed up progress (how was Kuzan's ice still there?), only to find nothing, she crashed in tiredness. She'd eaten the banana for a budget dinner, throwing the peel into the ocean, which seems to attract a couple fish, which turned into a larger, carnivorous fish, which turned into a shark, which turned into more sharks fighting over the fish, which turned into a fucking Sea King. Now that was something for her memory bank.
When she fell asleep, she covered herself in the blanket, as well as opting to bring the barrel into the Women's Quarters. Snowball's chance in hell, though.
When she woke up, the banana from before was gone, the bin still had the apple, and she was still covered in the blanket. But there wasn't a barrel. At that point, she was convinced; someone was trying to kill her from outside and was messing around with her mind.
And then Franky happened.
"Hey, sis!" He exclaimed, barging through the door without hesitation. "You up yet?"
"Yes." Robin replied, completely monotone. She didn't exactly trust them anymore, not after what she found.
"Hm?" Franky looked thrown off. "Since when were you a super robot?" He asked.
"I'm not." Robin replied, completely monotone.
Franky frowned. "I ain't convinced." He concluded from his research. "So yeah, question," When Robin nodded, he continued. "You have any fucking clue as to why we found a barrel in your room?"
Robin's face lit up for just a moment, though Franky didn't catch it. There was a barrel? Did they take it somewhere?
"So yeah, earlier tonight, we found you asleep in your bed. Your body was spread all over the shop, like you were doing yoga or some shit like that. Your body was on top of the doona, but still under the blanket. The hell's up with that? Anyway! We come in here, and near the beauty salon, we find this barrel, like the one you find on tiny fishing boats. We have no idea how it got here, so we brought it out of here, rolled it into the kitchen, bust it open, and it's empty." Never mind. Franky answered her question without even asking.
Robin didn't show it, but she was really happy right now. There was still a chance! This place could be real! Maybe she was right? Maybe this could be her haven. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to doubt her.
Robin put a hand to her head, acting like she didn't know. "No, sorry, I don't." She replied. "Why here anyway?"
Franky shrugged. "Beats me; I didn't put it here." He then gained back the same positive look she's seen him have since she got here. "Now get out of here, sis! We need to talk. Besides, it ain't healthy to be stuck in the same room, huh?"
Ah, right. She had to talk with them. She was slightly scared, admittedly. She wanted to trust them, she really did. But so far, it seemed too good to be true. A ship in the middle of nowhere, a variety of people, all kind to her...it seemed like something she'd beg for in exchange for her life.
She looked down. "Maybe later." She muttered.
Franky still smiled. "Sure." And then he left. Holy hell, that guy was loose.
Robin still had time to think for herself. For one, Franky was right; it was probably time they should talk. She'd been holding off from it for three nights now; a wee bit too long. She'd have to go to them, explain where she came from, who she was, and then watch as they proceed to throw her off deck and let her drown. Just great.
Then there was how Franky was also right: she needed to move around more. She's been numb from having to stay in a tiny boat the whole time, and if not for here, she'd be finding her legs falling off. That's never good.
Besides, more importantly, she made a promise. To herself of all people.
Robin was...slightly terrified right now.
She'd seen black skies come night, and they'd be mostly fine. Some of them had no stars at all, like now. She'd also been on this boat since Kuzan had sent her off a few hours ago down a runway of icebergs. And one thing she's learned from reading a book on boating and fishing maintenance was how if it stopped rocking, you've either found land, hit a jagged object near the surface, or sunken and you're most likely dead.
So when she woke up to find the ship perfectly flat, unmoving under a black sky, she'd figured she was dead anyways. Especially when the floor was just as barely visible as the sky.
She kept walking for about a minute, trying to find some kind of life. She'd seen this kind of thing once; a world of nothingness, empty but yourself and one other thing; that very thing would have major significance the next day. And said night, she found a potato, and then got thrown potatoes at by every kid on Ohara because of course she did. It was a natural cycle at this point.
Eventually, after searching for a good minute or two, only to find nothing, she decided to turn back to the boat. Wait, was the boat it? Would there be something to do with it tomorrow? What about another ship entirely? Was she about to be found?
She didn't bother to find out the answer as she plopped down onto one of the rows of seats and just sat there, face in her hands on her legs. Either nothing was going to happen tonight and this was going to get very dull very quick (though she'd appreciate that a lot more than what just happened), or the boat itself was going to mean something. Likely the former; she'd never been one for omens.
"You know, you may be onto something there, Robin." A voice spoke behind her. It sounded terrifyingly familiar.
"Mother?!" Robin cried, quickly turning around. That voice. It had to be her!
Only it wasn't. Instead, it was another woman with dark hair like hers, only it was at the length of her elbows. It also had a fringe at the front. She was wearing a dark lavender crop top with a skull surrounded by multiple hands, like a strange Jolly Roger. Also like the skull, the woman was wearing a white cowboy hat, a hibiscus sitting on the left side. Below, she had long, baggy maroon cargo pants, along with a pair of black wingtip shoes.
And right now, she was sitting right behind her in the ship.
"Hm?" The woman echoed, putting a finger to her chin. "Now that I think about it, you have a point."
"..." Robin didn't know what to say about that. "...About what?"
The woman's charming smile seemed to grow bigger. "That I sound like Mother did." She giggled. The then turned her head and gazed into her own thoughts. "I never gave it much thought, but from what I remember, I do sound similar to Olivia. Huh."
Better than most, Robin knew how to put two and two together. But since when was the answer five?! "Wait...are you...me?" She asked carefully, making sure to fall back if she was inevitably wrong.
The woman turned back to Robin and just stared at her. Her eyes were beautiful, but they peered right into her soul, to infinity and then some. This woman had seen shit. She just...stared at her.
"Pft," After a good minute, the woman had to hold in a snort. Robin despised being judgemental after what she'd been through in recent events and her routinely 'being bullied for the day', but that wasn't quite becoming of the woman. "Pfffhmhmhmhm," and there it was again. Wait. Was she...laughing?
"PFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yes. Yes she was.
Give or take thirty seven seconds of howling later, Robin tried to speak up. "Er," As I said, tried. "Why are you laughing?"
The woman seemed to calm down after hearing her. "Hehehe...sorry, I couldn't help myself." The woman had tears in her eyes. Man she laughed hard. Now, though, a healthy dose of context would be lovely. "I know that I've been smart since I was young, but I didn't expect myself to catch on to something so unorthodox in such a short period of time."
That answered Robin's question, her eyes wide. "So you are me?" She asked, fully turning around from her seat on the boat.
"Why yes," Older Robin replied. "Nico Robin. A pleasure." She held her hand out, expecting young Robin to shake it.
What she didn't expect was for the latter to run up from her seat on the boat and straight up squeeze her.
"Robin?" Older Robin tried getting her attention after about ten seconds of being hugged. "Are you alright?"
Robin popped her head up, barely able to see beyond her older self's breasts. If not for her daily dose of depression, she'd find it amusing. "Sorry," She apologised, blushing in embarrassment. "I just...really wanted to hug someone…" She'd just witnessed genocide right before her eyes, this close to being within it too if not for Saul.
When she felt not one pair of arms surround her, but two, she turned around to see exactly that; older Robin had four arms, likely due to having the same powers as her.
When she looked up at her future self, she saw a smile. "That's alright," Older Robin laughed quietly. "I remember wanting to hug someone as well when I was cast into the world." She then looked beyond young Robin with a thousand-yard stare. "I'd rather you have what I could not and be content than let history repeat itself."
Young Robin's eyes widened at that. "Did...did your Ohara get destroyed, too?" She asked. If older Robin meant what she said, then…
"Yeah," Was the reply, confirming young Robin's fears. "Charred to cinders, nothing remaining, all over some stupid words on rocks." She heard a sigh from above her. "Some song and dance that was."
Okay, now young Robin just felt bad. The same as her? Damn, that sucks. Considering how she felt now…"I'm sorry…" She apologised.
Older Robin giggled. "Come on, Robin, you have no need to apologise." She replied, trying to comfort her younger self. "You didn't do anything wrong, so you have no need to feel responsible for what happened to me. Or quite frankly, you."
Young Robin pouted from within the crop top. "I still feel bad…"
And they just remained like that, Robin in the arms of her future self in a hug that she really needed. Honestly? It was one of the first hugs since her mother left years ago. Even then, she'd never felt so loved before...and the fact that her future self sounded 1:1 like Olivia? It was kind of crazy, and will probably be more so in retrospect.
After about a minute or two, the older woman spoke up.
"Perhaps I should warn you now while I have the time?"
Warn her? About what? She hadn't heard about any calamities lately.
"What?" Young Robin asked, concerned.
Older Robin looked down to her. And from her expression, she didn't seem to expect that her past self had heard her. Considering that she was right under her chest, young Robin had no idea how she hadn't seen that coming.
And then she giggled. Was now really the time for that?! "If my sense of time is still as good as people say it is, I think I have around two minutes."
Young Robin looked confused. "For what?"
Older Robin hoisted of her younger self onto the other seat of the boat. "You see, within that time, you're going to fall into another void," She replied. "One with an invisible ocean. And yes, due to having a Devil Fruit, you're not going to be able to move."
"..." Young Robin didn't know how to answer that. "Uh…"
She felt a hand on her shoulder from the older woman. "Now don't worry, you'll be fine," She quickly assured. "Anyway, you're going to fall into a void with an ocean, you won't be able to move, but! You're going to be pulled up by three people onto a ship, making sure you don't drown and sink like an anchor into the very abyss that lies eternally beneath you."
Robin had no idea why her older self was so...morbid, but that was for later. "What three people? And why are you telling me this?!" She demanded.
Suddenly, from beneath the two of them, light started to peer from under the boat, scaring Robin.
Either her older self didn't notice or...was she anticipating this? Wait, was this what she meant by two minutes? Was that all the time she had?
As light started to pierce through everything around them, older Robin gave an answer. "So that you have a home; something I wish I could've had when I was your age."
Now young Robin was even more confused. "A...home?"
The ghost of not-so-christmas future nodded. "Mhm," She answered. "More than that, Robin. A family."
As more and more light surrounded them, young Robin shook her head in confusion. "What do you mean 'family'? What kind of home?! I don't understand any of this!"
When she felt a hand on her head, she stopped panicking and looked up, older Robin smiling at her. Although she seemed to have some light beams sticking out of her. "Don't worry~," She laughed. "You'll understand soon enough. Though I do have a request for you."
Young Robin tilted her head to the side in curiosity, not noticing how light was now also coming out of her. "What is it?"
Her future self's smile grew larger still. "Trust them."
Young Robin was conflicted by this request. "What?! But I-"
"Don't even know them? Don't know what they may do to you? Am worried because they may throw you overboard because they might think you're a demon?"
That shut her up.
"As I said, just give them a chance," Older Robin asked. Not quite pleading, but still wanting the child to hear her out. "They're a bunch of zany goofballs, but I can tell you right now they'll care for you like one of their own. Just...give them a chance?" Light had taken up 84% of the room, let alone them.
Robin was rather conflicted about this. Her older self wanted her to...give a chance to people she didn't even know? Not to insult her own intelligence (and she was fairly certain the woman before her may very well be the smartest person ever, much more than herself), but that was probably something incredibly stupid. But...what did she have to lose? Odds are, with the bullshit the government spits out, the world would want her head on a pike and her body in the ground anyways.
"I…" The least she could do was hope. "I'll try…" I mean, that's all she really had left.
Older Robin beamed. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Robin." She thanked. "I promise you, there's nobody in this world destined to be alone."
As the light started to cover everything around them, and a bunch of themselves, young Robin started to tear up. Those words hit close to home, and from her own mouth no less. And...could this be her break? Finally, a place she could call home?
She needed another hug, and as such lunged right back into her older self, crying her heart out into the latter's chest.
All older Robin did was hug her back, patting her head. "I swear, you'll be home before you know it." Light now covered everything.
All young Robin did was nod, holding the older woman as long as she could before she'd brace for the due fall.
She had promised her future self to at least give them a chance. And seeing as they offered that chance, she might as well take it.
With that in mind, she quickly got out of the bed and prepared herself in front of the mirror, making sure she knew what she was doing.
"Okay, Robin, you'll be alright…" She went on with this tactic for ten minutes, rehearsing lines, failing at them, building up emotion in a pressure container that was her soul...the usual.
"She ain't coming up, is she?" Franky asked his seniors.
Jinbe shook his head. "No clue. She seems hesitant on something, but I don't know what."
Brook had his hands enclosed in one another on the table. Perhaps it's because she doesn't trust us." When the other two looked at him, he continued. "Look at us; we're each incredible easy going, and accepted one another rather quickly." They nodded at this. Jinbe had heard Brook out and they got around in almost no time, and Franky had been the life of the party for all of his six years aboard here. "Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen with everyone. And as such, we need to have patience and accommodate their wishes, no matter what they may be." Brook sighed. "These things take time, and with her injuries she had when she first appeared, I feel that it may need to take a little more before she wishes to speak with us directly."
Franky nodded, though he seemed reluctant. "Fair enough," He agreed. "There's just one super slight problem."
Brook sat up straight. "And what might that be, Franky?" He inquired.
Franky pointed to the door that lead downstairs. "She's right there."
The other two quickly turned around to see that, indeed, Robin was standing right there at the doorway, same battered dress as before, same injuries as before. She at least seemed calmer.
Robin tended up a bit now that attention was on her. She lowered her head, looking away. "Um…" She barely even whispered. "H-Hello." Was it fear of them, or was she shy?
Franky held up a peace sign. "Yo." He grinned.
As Brook nodded in response, Jinbe spoke up. "Somebody finally got out of bed," he laughed. "Was it that comfortable?"
Robin meekly nodded. "Yeah." She replied, a little louder than before.
Jinbe smiled to himself. "Maybe we should fix up the Men's Quarters if they're that nice. The cots are too small for me anyways."
Franky held out a fist. "Hear hear!"
Jinbe waved him off. "Not the time, Franky." He replied, not even looking at him. Franky pouted for his troubles.
"You…" Robin spoke up again. "Wanted to see me?"
Brook perked up a bit. "Ah yes, we have a lot to tell you!" He answered in a jolly voice. "Come, take a seat." He offered one of the chairs next to Franky at the table.
Robin seemed nervous at first, still not exactly assured about being near them for her own safety. Eventually, she slowly walked over, politely sitting to the right of Franky.
After she sat down, Brook clasped his hands together. "Now then, I'll just give you a simple explanation for now and give you full details later. A synopsis, if you will." As Robin nodded, he continued. "You see, as you may have guessed, this is all occurring within your dreams when you sleep at night. It's occurring with all of us, every night." He straightened himself up more. "This place is what we call the Dream Realm. We sail an endless ocean in an empty void of nothingness. Well, almost nothing, I should say." Brook chuckled to himself. "To be specific, we sail aboard this ship. It's not just any ship, but the most majestic and well crafted ship in the world; the Thousand Sunny, ship of dreams!"
He paused for a bit for the slightly epic moment, also making sure Robin was on track with what he was saying. When she nodded, giving a simple "Mhm.", he pressed on.
"Every night, rather than simply having a dream, we each come aboard the Sunny, doing whatever we please through the night. Sometimes we relax on the lawn or play a board game, sometimes we look through the Library for history and other miscellaneous information," He saw that Robin perked up at that, as he'd hoped. "We also like to train and practise. I like to reprise my swordsmanship from when I was alive in case I get found from where I am, or to defend myself if they're bad people. Jinbe trains in a special martial arts style he uses, known as Fish-Man Karate. Franky doesn't really have a need to fight, so he tinkers with inventions in the workshop below deck. He's incredibly creative, I must say!"
Robin nodded at all this information, taking it all in. "Sounds nice." She commented.
"It truly is a blessing," Brook agreed. "Now then, I think we should introduce ourselves properly," He then took a step up from his seat at the end of the table. "I am Brook, formerly a human who sailed as a pirate with a crew filled with musicians. To think it's been 30 years since then…" He seemed a bit sad at that last comment, but pressed on. "I'm a swordsman, above average if I'm being honest. I ate a Devil Fruit, the Revive-Revive Fruit specifically. When I died after my crew was ambushed, my soul searched for my body for a whole year before it came across my bones, nothing but my afro still intact. As for hobbies, I train in swordsmanship every now and then, but like reading about various cultures and histories, doing puzzles, and finding and making various teas and coffees." He then took a bow before sitting down.
Jinbe stood up next. "I'm Jinbe, a whale shark Fish-Man from the Fish-Man District, a largely abandoned area from my home nation; the slurms, if you will. I am a user of Fish-Man Karate, a fighting style that revolves around the movement and flow of water, be it vapour in the air, or the ocean itself. I mostly train aboard the Sunny, though every now and then I enjoy giving history on Fish-Man Island and our race in general. I would be doing it for the sake of preventing misconceptions, but these two don't judge covers anyway," He gestured to Brook and Franky, who nodded. That was nice, not judging on background or word alone. It gave her a bit of hope. "I've also taken a habit of garden maintenance, helmsmanship, and Stratego. Even now, I have absolutely no clue how the latter came to be."
As Jinbe sat down, Franky now stood up. "Name's Franky! I'm a degenerate teenager who's a shipwright apprentice with a dude named Iceburg (I call him Ice-for-Brains), and my boss Tom, who's pretty much the dad I never got. I've always wanted to make a ship that can take down a Sea King, and have made a crapton of prototypes in hopes of pulling it off, which I named Battle Frankys," Robin snorted a bit at the sheer bullheadedness of the name alone. "I've made around sixteen of them by now, all of them failing. I swear to god, I WILL make one that super works! But anyway, around here, I mostly try to make inventions in my spare time, learn how to make my own cola and fail with flying colours, and...yeah, that's pretty much it." For ending on such a flat note, Franky's smile was pretty damn bright. Hell, he even went into this weird pose with his arms above his head. Sure was a prideful guy.
When he sat down, everyone turned to Robin. At the sudden shift of attention to her, she felt queasy. She wanted to leave, go back to that room, sleep in the bed. But if she didn, they would trust her just as much as she did them. And frankly, that was a very bad thing to do when this was literally the only thing sailing these invisible waters.
When she did stand up, on the chair for good measure to make sure they saw her, she started.
"My name is Nico Robin. I was formerly a citizen and resident of Ohara, an island of archaeologists and researchers in the south of the West Blue. I…" She cleared her tears up a bit before continuing. "I say former because Ohara was destroyed."
Brook raised his hand. "By whom, I may ask?" He inquired.
Robin's face took a dive. "The government," She responded. "The World Government destroyed...no, not just...they destroyed everything. They burned the tree surrounding the whole island, they brushed cannonballs across the plains, they murdered everyone. Archaeologists, innocent citizens...nothing was left…"
The other three looked distraught. An entire island destroyed. Not even just murdering a single person, which was bad enough, but flat out genocide? That was fucked and a half.
Jinbe was now invested. "But why?" He asked, already saddened. "What reason would they have to wipe away an entire island?!"
"Poneglyphs," Robin responded. "An ancient writing of sorts. From what I remember my professor told me, they were large stones engraved with an ancient message. There are theorised to be hundreds around the whole world, but few could read them." She paused. "And they were all from Ohara…"
Brook seemed to put down the pieces given, and he wasn't happy. "So they wiped out your entire people because of some writing on stones?!" He demanded, seething.
Robin nodded. "Yes. Because of what was written, the government doesn't want anyone to read them. They w-want them hidden and...w-would kill to-to...k-keep them s-s-so…" She started crying. She couldn't help it. Because of what those damn stones read, her people's heads were wanted on a silver platter. And aside from herself, that's exactly what happened.
For the first time since Robin had started giving her story, Franky spoke up. "Hold on," He spoke. "I think I remember something about this whole thing."
His seniors turned to him. "What is it, Franky?" Brook asked.
"Hey, sis, you said the super island was called Ohara, yeah?" He asked.
Robin nodded, wiping the tears of her face with some tissues Jinbe offered. "Y-yeah. It is." She whimpered.
Franky seemed a lot more saddened now. "Yeah, about that…" He trailed off, leaving a feeling of dread in Robin's gut. "In the newspapers the other day, they said something about 'Demons of Ohara' on the front cover." Everyone in the room was suddenly uneasy. And yet Franky went on. "If I remember reading it before Tom stole it back, it said that they were trying to super destroy the world or some shit. No idea what that's about."
Robin hadn't felt worse since she got here. Already, the government had spread propaganda about her and her people, let alone blatant lies to save face, and they had already reached one of their ears. And now they knew. And now she'd get cast of board. And now-
"Hey, Robin," She quickly turned her head up to see Franky raising an eyebrow in her direction. "You got any idea what's up with that?" He asked. Strange; he hadn't evicted her yet.
Nonetheless, she was asked a question. "I...think I do," She replied. "I think Clover said that some of the Poneglyphs held directions to certain weapons. I don't know what, but he said that they could shake the balance of the world. I got really scared when he said that, so I ran out and didn't hear anything else he might have said."
Jinbe sighed heavily, turning attention to him. "Robin…" He spoke, the latter expecting the worst or to be called a liar. "Ohara doesn't care about finding these 'weapons', do they?"
Robin was shocked that he asked that of all things. She had a chance to explain herself! "OF COURSE WE DON'T!" She all but screamed out. "We don't want to destroy the world or whatever! All we want to know is history! All I wanted to know is what happened in the world! A-and, and, we didn't even know it was that bad! Why would we blackmail with something we don't even know?! We just wanted to learn things about the past!" She cried even harder now, but she didn't stop talking either. "BUT NOBODY LISTENS! Nobody believes we want to learn about history! Everyone just wants to blame us for something we didn't even do! ALL THE WORLD WANTS TO DO IS BLAME THINGS THAT DON'T EXIST TO MAKE THEMSELVES FEEL BETTER! We just want to learn, but nobody wants to believe we're harmless! All they want is our blood spilt, our bodies spread, and our home burnt to cinders! All because we wanted to learn! WHAT'S SO WRONG ABOUT DISCOVERING THE UNKNOWN?! WHY DOES EVERYBODY WANT US DEAD FOR SOMETHING SO MINISCULE?! WE DID NOTHING WRONG TO ANYBODY ABOUT ANYTHING!"
At that point, she finally snapped. She had fallen face first onto the table, crying her heart out. Even when there were no more tears left, she just kept weeping in sadness. She couldn't take it anymore. All that Professor Clover wanted to do was to learn about the world and its upbringings. All that the Ohara archaeologists wanted to learn was about the past and how it shaped the present.
And they died for it. All for the government being afraid of something that wasn't even going to happen.
As she was still whimpering to herself, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Instinctively she flinched, expecting the worst. When she looked up, eyes red and puffy with two wet trails down her face, she saw Franky smiling at her.
"Come on, Robin, you don't gotta cry!" He told her, grinning. "We believe you."
Robin was shocked. "W-Wha...?" She figured that after all that, they'd just call her a crybaby and to 'suck it up'.
"I mean, it sounds like something they'd do to maintain power, so I can't say I'm that surprised." Now Jinbe was listening and agreeing. She couldn't believe it.
"But still…" Brook trailed off. "To think that they'd go so far...and to descend so low, just to save face...how uncouth." It...it was a miracle. They'd listened to her. They'd heard her the whole way. And they were on her side...how?!
"Robin," She quickly turned to Franky, who had his hands on his hips. "I should probably tell you this now; you're stuck here for the rest of your life. At night, that is." Robin nodded, understanding that, after the previous nights and the logic that broke like a twig, this would be the case. "And looking at you, your posture, your attitude, your expectations, thinking nobody's gonna hear you out," Robin would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid right now. Such a casual teenager, yet he read her like a book. "You're lonely, aren't you? An orphan or an outcast?" He asked.
Robin decided to give the most inclusive answer possible. "Yes," She replied. "Everyone hates me." The three seemed saddened by this. Her whole life, hated by everybody? So young, too… "I ate I think it's called a Devil Fruit, like Brook. The Flower-Flower Fruit. I can create limbs, like an arm." She then held out her right arm, and on each of the three appeared an arm on their own right arm. Like a flower. "They feared it because it wasn't normal. And even before the Devil Fruit, people still hated me. Throwing rocks, calling names, shoving into the ground, punching...the list goes on…" Her eyes were starting to well up again. "A-All but the archaeologists...they ca-alled me a demon. A Demon Child. Neighbours, the other children, my bitch of an Aunt-in-law...e-everyone...a mo-monster...a de...I…" She couldn't find the words, her emotions fogging her mind's thesaurus.
The fog cleared when Franky jumped onto the table, grabbed her shoulders and literally shook it away. "Well fuck them, dude." He said, a strong look of determination aboard. "We know you aren't a demon. You're a decent human being. You aren't trying to kill us with weapons you don't care about, you aren't going to curse us with your flower hands you yourself are scared of, and you are definitely not a Demon Child. Got that, sis?" The other two couldn't tell which was stronger; the serenity beginning to roll off of Robin in waves, or the truth in Franky's words. "And you know what? For as long as I can remember, we've been a family on this ship, the three of us!"
"Mhm." Brook confirmed, a fierce look on his bony face.
"He's right, you know." Jinbe followed suit.
"And if anything, you're one of us, Robin!"
Robin gasped in shock and awe at what Franky had said. "I...what?"...and a bit of confusion. Her? One of them?
"Sure!" Franky pressed on. "You're probably the kindest person I know! Hell, you're the most courteous I know, that's for sure." His seniors nodded. "If anything, if you need help in anyway, come to us! We'll super help you no sweat, sis! You need a hand? Just come to big bro Franky!" He held his arms out wide, opening himself up to gladly help her. She was one of them now, dammit! Why wouldn't he help out?!
Robin...Robin's heart was tied onto itself. And yet it soared. Hated for all her life, shooed away by almost everyone she's ever met, had a talent she never wanted that endangered her life and all others around her...for being dealt one of the worst hands in history, yet this group of misfits open their arms, held their hands out, picked her up and dusted her off to carry her into the sunset she's always yearned to see. A pipe dream for change...and she got it from possibly the kindest people in the world. And they kept helping her still…
Robin hadn't felt so happy in her life. So...wanted. So appreciated to even be there.
A reason to live.
"WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" She cried, finally releasing the constrained emotion, proceeding to run straight into Franky's chest, hugging him as tightly as she possibly could. "B-BIG BRO-O-O!" She cried straight into Franky, refusing to let him go.
An actual family. A real family. People who cared.
Franky, having reeled back from his own shock from suddenly being ran into, hugged Robin back. Normally, sack of emotion he was, he'd be crying too. But now wasn't the time for that.
"Don't you worry your little heart a thing, sis!" He assured the girl. "You'll be just fine here. We'll make sure you're always happy, and damn us if we fail along the way!"
Robin looked up at Franky, crying with a smile. "T-Thank you s-so m-much…" She turned to Jinbe and Brook. "A-All of you. Thank you!" She then went back to hugging Franky, crying starting to quench. She really needed that. She needed this.
Brook cleared his throat. "Well then, now that that's out of the road, I'll go get the first aid kit to help heal your injuries, seeing as you'd sustained so many."
Jinbe nodded. "On that note, I'll get the bath running. You'll need to clean up after that whole experience, no?"
Robin nodded. "Y-Yeah. Thanks." She replied with gratitude.
Brook quickly turned to Jinbe. "Wait, she can't have baths like that, remember?" He called out.
Jinbe seemed to have caught himself, too. "Oh, right. Devil Fruit."
"Indeed. I remember when I first learned that."
"Didn't Yorki have to rescue you from the bathtub or something along those lines?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, fish."
"Whale shark, you uncultured swine."
Robin giggled from Franky's chest while the latter just bellowed without care. If this was how her family would be, her real family, then she'd love every second of it.
She now had a reason to live, and so long as these people stood, she wouldn't stop living.
As said above, I apologise for the wait, but there you go. Probably going to have an aftermath chapter for Robin as well before moving on to later events. Boy, I can't wait for the Mariejois attack!